Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Electrocaloric effect materials are materials that experience a temperature change when subjected to an applied voltage. This temperature change is reversible upon the removal of the applied voltage. By physically connecting and disconnecting electrocaloric effect material to and from a heat source, and creating a unidirectional heat transfer path, a heat pump can be created for transferring heat away from the heat source.
The present disclosure appreciates that the electrocaloric effect and other materials used in various types of heat pumps may experience various performance efficiencies at various operating temperatures. As a result, the performance of an electrocaloric effect material heat pump may undesirably change throughout the operating temperature range of a heat source to which the heat pump is thermally connected. Consequently, a conventional electrocaloric effect material heat pump may not be suitable for use with a heat source operating within a relatively wide temperature range.